Pete Alonso stole the show in a home run derby for eternity

CLEVELAND – Pete Alonso had a pretty good night. A fun evening in the middle of a fantasy season, as he called it. After all, the rookie first baseman of the New York Mets hit three walk-off homers to win the 2019 Home Run Derby.

In the first round, Alonso, compared to the Hometown hero Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians, hit his 14th homer a second ahead of the clock, eliminating Santana, earning a stern punishment from his cousin Derek Morgan , his jar for the evening, and receiving a chorus of boos from Cleveland fans who were disappointed with Santana's early exit.

"I did not think I would ever be booed at a homerun derby, to be honest," Alonso said. "But I think this is the hometown of home cooking, we've been struggling with some difficulties, but we've gotten over them and pretty much just survived and made progress, that's it."

Alonso's second-round task was a bit more difficult. His opponent, Atlanta Braves's Ronald Acuna Jr., who caused a sensation in the second year, has completed 1

9 home races, a grand total that would have won in the home race derby last season except for a matchup. After more than half of the four minutes, Alonso had only seven home runs. He called for a break at 1:49. Then he got hot. With 30 seconds remaining, Alonso was up to 15 homeruns. And as the clock went down to zero, he swung home on his last two turns, with a massive 453-foot blast landing in the trees behind the midfield fence.

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0:36 [19659007] In the second round in a row, Pete Alonso needs no extra time to beat Ronald Acuna Jr. to reach the final.

Alonso celebrated with a double-shoulder punch and a few "Yeah!" Shouts you may have heard in Queens. He was in the final ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had prevailed in the most epic single-handed duel in the history of Home Run Derby against Joc Pederson. This fight required three tie-break rounds before Guerrero won 40 to 39 when Pederson hit a ground ball on his final strike.

Yes, everyone will remember the Guerrero-Pederson matchup for all eternity. But like Justin Morneau in 2008, when he defeated Josh Hamilton after Yankee Stadium's record 28-Homer round at Hamilton, it was Alonso who won the Double Bat Silver Trophy – and the new $ 1 million prize for the champion.

Alonso's third entry-level homerun lasted after Guerrero scored an impressive 22 homeruns. Alonso started the final lap better than his first two rounds with seven home runs at 2:47 when he took his first break. (Players have two time-outs in the last round.) Morgan would say that they found their groove when the competition went on. He had recently trained three times with Alonso, the last week during the subway series at Citi Field.

This session earned Morgan the final approval of Alonso Mets teammates.

At All-Star team-mate Jeff McNeil – Alonso's designated Aquarius during the break – gave the big batsman some advice at the first break.

"I told him he did not have to try to pull the ball, just stay in the middle," McNeil said. "We talked about it before the semi-finals, the balls go out, maybe he's had a bit of fun, so stay in the middle of the field and hit some bombs."

In fact, the ability to spray homeruns – and the ride to midfield – is Alonso's strength in real games and has also proved beneficial in the Derby:

At 1:30 on the final lap, he was up 14 home runs. His 16th Homer was a low-pitched screamer who had just cleared the fence in the left field. He used his second time-out with 1:02 remaining, sitting on 18 home runs. While Guerrero had burned calories for a month when he twice broke Hamilton's record, Alonso was more rested. He admitted that this was to his advantage.

"I'm just glad I did not need extra time [in the earlier rounds] because they're extra turns," Alonso said. "That might have been able to move on to the next round, so I'm glad I saved so much energy throughout the event, and that was huge, without being where I was in seeding, I got into a good one Location offset. " Position with the regular season. Without it, it could have been a different story. I'm really happy about how the brackets worked out. But survive and move forward. "

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After the Victory At the 2019 Home Run Derby, Pete Alonso unveils his championship chain awarded to him by Daddy Yankee.

Because he was the taller seed and met Guerrero in the final Alonso knew the number he had to beat, with just one minute left, plus the bonus time he had earned for two 45-yard home runs, to make five home runs, and No. 19 was a low-liner right off the bat. but Alonso is so strong that he clears the wall only a few feet.

Then came Walk-Off # 3. After 18 seconds, Alonso struck a patented high-arc flying ball in the left center, four or five rows deep, a shot that was measured at 429 feet Not his longest explosion of the night – this one went 467 feet – but it made him the 2019 Home Run Derby Champion He triumphantly raised his arms and Morgan jumped into his arms:

Alonso received hugs from McNeil and Guerrero. He said he would donate 5% of his winner's check to the Wounded Warrior Project – both his grandfathers served in the military – and 5% to Tunnel to Towers, a foundation that benefits first responders. Maybe he gives his cousin a small tip. Musician Daddy Yankee gave Alonso a large silver medallion, which he wore around his neck.

"It's cute, it even turns," said Alonso. "That's cool, I think I could play the game tomorrow with this shot."